"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings."--- Lewis Carroll

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak

Last Sunday, we visited several of our fellow classroom teachers just for the fun of it. Now that we are in a brand-new week, we thought that it might be a good idea to take another look around:

Dan M. writes over at A History Teacher. He has brought something to our attention that concerns us greatly. The students of his San Diego area high school had an assembly which featured a presentation by a survivor of the Holocaust. Instead of listening to the lady's presentation, many students chose to sleep, pass notes, eat lunch, and talk into their cell phones. To add injury to insult, the ingrates students left the venue full of trash.

Meeting for a drink after work sounds like a great idea... especially if it's someplace with sidewalk seating.

The always engaging Mr. Babylon is reporting that his high school has been having difficulties recruiting competent teachers and has an assistant principal that obviously won't do her job. The consequences of her actions (or lack thereof) have caused grief for students and staff alike. Here is a taste:

She's almost zen-like in her adherence to the path of least resistance. When she does flex her puny administrative muscle to forbid teachers from using her mini-fridge or keeping their coats or papers in the office...

Nicole, over at Post-hip chick, is hurriedly preparing for a mysterious 47 hour trip to Mexico soon... hmm. (The Wonk family lived for seven years in Mexico. We could give her a few pointers, but finding out on your own is half the fun...) What on earth is a waxer?

Clarence, who teaches several hundred miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has just returned to the classroom following a vacation to sunny Las Vegas. His site, Remote Access, tells us that his eighth grade class is about to begin a unit in Medieval history. He is looking for some input from history buffs and others.

An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the ninth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at]earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, April 12, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get our easy-to-follow entry guidelines here. View the latest edition of the Carnival there.

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